Every Rose Has its Thorns
by stormsonthehorizon
Summary: A mysterious gypsy shows up, gives Yugi an ominous looking ring, and suddenly, Yugi's life gets way too complicated. Again.  Rating will rise later.  NOT yaoi!
1. Made for You

_Hello everyone. This might be a little weird to hear, but this isn't actually cyclonzgirl, but YamiHeart, another writer on . We decided to write this story together, so I'm writing this chapter, cyclonzgirl will write the one after that, and so on and so forth. _

_I don't want to wrtie to much in the first chapter here so that you can all process that two people are writing this and not one, so I'll just get the big stuff out of the way:_

_I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and neither does cyclonzgirl. _

_Please enjoy our story.^^_

It had started out as a normal day for the young teenager Yugi Mutou. School had finished and he was looking forward to going home and seeing Atem and Grandpa at the Kame Game Shop where he lived. Yugi remembered the day he had dueled Atem so that he could go to the afterlife. When the gods had seen how much sadness the loss of Atem made all his friends, they granted Atem his own body and allowed him to stay among the living. With nowhere else to go, Atem stayed at the place he had called home when he was in Yugi's body, but Atem didn't really have the need for High School, so he just stayed home and helped Grandpa attract customers (when you can advertise that you have the King of Games at your shop, you notice business increase a little).

Yugi had to walk home alone that day because Jonouchi and the rest of the gang had other plans, but Yugi didn't mind. People always treated him as if he couldn't do anything by himself without getting seriously injured, so he finally felt as though people were beginning to look at him with a higher respect.

"_I wonder how surprised Atem will be when I come home all by myself."_ Yugi mused.

"Excuse me young boy…" A scratchy voice said.

Yugi looked up to see a sort of gypsy-looking woman adorned with a rag and randomly beaded dress and a cloth covering half her face. The half of her face the cloth didn't conceal had two, wide, emerald-green eyes. Her hair was thick and black and fell all around her.

"Can I help you ma'm?" Yugi asked, trying to make sure the nervousness the woman made him feel didn't show in his voice.

"Would you make a poor beggar woman's day and take this?" The woman took Yugi's hand and opened it up. In his palm she dropped a silver ring.

It was a quite curious ring. The actual part of the ring that wrapped around your finger was made up of thorns, like on a rosebush. In the middle of the ring there was a single black gem that was just the right size so that it didn't look obnoxious on the ring. Yugi thought he saw a hint of red run through the gem, but when he looked again he didn't see it anymore.

"I can't accept something like this." The ring sent a shiver up Yugi's spine, although he couldn't figure out why. He tried to hands the ring back to the woman, but she refused to take it back.

"No, no, no. You **must** take it. The ring was made for you." The woman insisted.

"For me? But why?"

"It's a very special ring." Yugi began to turn the ring around to try to figure out what was so special about it. But the only things on the ring were the thorn design and the giant black gemstone. "It will make you everything you want to be, and more."

This definitely made Yugi not want the ring. He had lived through enough in his 17 years of life to know that anything that promised to make you something you weren't wasn't a good idea to have.

"Thank you very much, but it's not my style." This time Yugi grabbed the woman's hand and put the ring in her palm.

Yugi proceeded to walk past the strange woman who, even though she had a cloth over her mouth, had an expression of shock on her face that Yugi could see quite clearly.

"_Fine. If __**that's**__ how you want it, I'll just have to force you to wear this ring."_ The woman thought as she slowly dispersed into the air.

"That lady was **too** weird. Maybe I **should** walk with others. Oh well, I'm almost home now." Yugi sprinted the rest of the way home, partly because he was always eager to see Atem and Grandpa and partly because he didn't want that lady following him.

Yugi threw the door open to the Game Shop and called out "I'm Hoooooooome!"

"And you're late." Atem said with a smile as he entered the room. He was wearing a frilly apron and held a ladle in his hand, which meant he was attempting to cook dinner again.

"Atem!" Yugi ran towards Atem and gave him a big hug.

"Hello little one." Atem ruffled Yugi's hair with his free hand and leaned against the wall.

"What held you up Yugi? I didn't see any of your friends with you." Grandpa came into the room after he closed the business portion of the house.

Yugi wasn't sure how to respond. He knew that if he told the two older men that a random woman came up to him and tried to give him a freaky ring they would both become extremely worried about nothing. So instead, he made up an excuse.

"I had to stay at school and help Ryo with classroom duty because the guy who usually does it with him was sick today." Yugi dropped his backpack on the ground and plopped himself down at the table to prepare himself for whatever gruel Atem cooked. Atem wasn't very good at cooking, but he said he had to do his share in the chores around the house.

"It's only fair that I do my fair share of the work to repay you guys for letting me stay here." He had said. Atem probably would have been repaying them better if he **didn't** cook, but Grandpa and Yugi never said anything and ate whatever Atem made without a single complaint.

"That was nice of you Yugi." Grandpa said as he also sat himself down and prepared for the worst. "So…Atem, what's for dinner?"

Atem straightened up and smiled even bigger than when Yugi had come home.

"You guys are really going to enjoy tonight's meal!" Atem ran into the kitchen and the sound of the oven opening was followed by coughing and the smell of smoke. Grandpa and Yugi grimaced. Atem came out of the kitchen holding with ovenmits on his hands and a pot with smoke coming out of it. Atem plopped it on the table and stood proudly. "I present Ramen."

"Y-you put the ramen **inside** the oven?" Yugi asked nervously.

"Of course. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

Yugi and Grandpa looked at each other and looked into the pot. Whatever was in the pot **wasn't** ramen. Random things floated around a rusty red liquid that began to bubble in some places. A skull made of smoke arose out of the pot and muttered the word _"Death"_ before disappearing. The smell was rancid, and it took all of Yugi and Grandpa's strength not to barf right on the spot.

"What…did you put in the ramen?" Grandpa asked hesitantly, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"Just the normal stuff: marshmallows, tomatoes, chicken broth, apples, ketchup, salt, pepper, sugar, pork bits, eggs, milk, pickles, cheddar cheese, and noodles." Atem counted all the ingredients on his fingers, and with each one Grandpa and Yugi dreaded the dish more and more.

"Yum…" Yugi said uneasily.

"Go ahead Yugi, you can try it first." Grandpa said with an awkward smile.

"No, go ahead. I insist."

"Ha, ha. Don't worry you two, I made enough that you can both have it at the same time." Atem instantly produced two bowls and spoons from behind his back and placed them down at the two terrified men's spots. Atem poured the deadly mixture into the bowls and waited anxiously for Yugi and Grandpa to try it and tell him what they thought.

"Bottoms up." Yugi said before both men dipped their spoons and ate the goo that sat before them.

The instant it touched their lips both Yugi and Grandpa wanted to spit it out, but they ate the entire spoonful while fighting off every gag reflex in their body.

"Is it good?" Atem asked anxiously. All Yugi and Grandpa could do was shake their heads "yes."

"Yes! I did it! Another amazing meal by me! I'm so good; I could have my own show on Food Network! Yahoo!" Atem ran out of the room in excitement at his achievement. As soon as they were sure he was gone, both Yugi and Grandpa spit out the "ramen" and dumped their entire bowls back into the pot.

"*SIGH* I'll clean up Atem's "ramen", Yugi. You can head up to your room, I'll send up something edible for you in there." Grandpa said as he took the pot into the kitchen.

"Thanks Grandpa, I will." Yugi got up from the table and headed to his room. Atem's ecstatic screams could be heard all the way into Yugi's room, which only made Yugi laugh.

"_Well, at least he's happy." _Yugi thought as he closed the door and turned on the light. That's when something caught Yugi's eye.

"What the…?" Yugi walked over to his desk and picked up a silver ring with a thorn design and a black gemstone. "But, how?"

"I told you, that ring was made for you." The scratchy voice of the gypsy-woman said.

_Oh no! The best part? Since cyclonzgirl and I are writing each chapter without telling the other what's going to happen next, I don't know what's going to happen next either! So let's both come back and check out what happens next!_

_Oh, and PLEASE comment! I know I love to read comments, and i'm sure cyclonzgirl does too!_

_Thank you for reading!^^_


	2. Attachment

Hey guys! It's cyclonzgirl now and YamiHeart's sitting out for this chapter! If you made it this far, I give my thanks and hope you read on.

_I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! …They rub it in every chapter don't they? _

"WHAT THE FU-" Yugi spluttered, managing to catch his tongue before finishing his last word.

"Calm down, young man!" the gypsy whispered sharply. "Don't you have any self control? Oh, now look what you've done!" and with that, the woman disappeared, her form seeming to break down particle by particle and somehow vanishing into the floor.

"Uh…huh?" Yugi's eye twitched with massive confusion.

"Are you alright Yugi?" Yami came barreling into the room, crashing into Yugi's bookshelf in his haste.

"Um…yeah I guess," Yugi muttered a little uncertainly.

Atem, picking up on the uncertainty creased his forehead with worry.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" he said, while straightening some dislodged books.

"Nope! Nothing at all!" Yugi said, suddenly cheerful as he composed himself.

"Okay…" Atem straightened the last book and exited the book, looking out of his eye to look at Yugi.

As soon as Atem walked down the hall to his room, Yugi closed the door and whirled around.

"Okay…where are you?" Yugi whispered into the seemingly empty air.

"Right behind you, young man. Your senses are surprisingly dull, you know."

"Eep!" Yugi squeaked, but this time quietly. "Who are you?" he asked demandingly.

"No one you need to be acknowledged about…" the mysterious woman whispered. "I'll tell you one thing, though. My name is Allie," she said, one of her emerald eyes seeming to gleam at Yugi.

"Allie? Huh…I thought you would…well….I think…." Yugi struggled, "Allie's a teenager's name!" he blurted.

"Heh, really?" the woman giggled. "Will this make it more comfortable for you, then?" and she morphed into a younger version of herself, so she looked about 16 or 15.

"AH!" Yugi yelped, stumbling backwards then tripping onto his bed.

"Calm down! How many times do I have to keep reminding you to not freak about at every little bit of magic?" Allie whisper-shouted.

"I'm sorry, sorry!" Yugi whispered back. "What…are you?" he asked, with a slightly scared but awestruck look in his face.

"Someone _you _need not worry about, young man," Allie said, her stern tone back, "but as I was saying before, put the ring on!"

"Why should I?" Yugi said haughtily, a little offended by her bossy tone.

"I told you…it was made for you."

"Stop telling me that! Who was it that made it then. huh? How do they know me? Why would they make such a strange ring, and most of all, WHO ARE YOU?" Yugi asked, speaking so fast, it seemed like he was saying one long word instead of multiple sentences.

"Listen! The key to wisdom is not to know, but to follow! Since you obviously don't seem to comprehend that, just know that if you do not put the ring on, someone's life will be on the line. Someone close to your heart," Allie said, taking on a forbidding tone all of a sudden.

"What! Who's?" Yugi shouted, almost loud enough to have Grandpa or Atem running in again.

"I told you time and time _**again!" **_Allie shouted, but strangely Grandpa nor Atem seemed to hear her. "the key to wisdom is not knowing, but _following!_ Just do what I say and everyone will be safe!" Allie started to disappear as she was before, but slower.

"What? No! Come back! I still want to know…!" Yugi stopped whisper-shouting when he saw it was no use. Allie was already gone.

"_The ring…" _Allie's soft voice seemed to reverberate through Yugi's mind, compelling him to put the ring on his finger.

Yugi decided that it probably couldn't hurt if he did put the ring on, but according to Allie, it would hurt someone if he didn't.

_Well…I guess I have nothing to lose…_ Yugi thought, with a shrug.

Yugi slipped the ring on his finger and suddenly, he gasped.

"_The darkness…it's surrounding me…Atem…Grandpa…someone help…" _and with that, Yugi screamed, as an agonizing pain seemed to swallow the finger the ring was on. He screamed again and again, longer and longer but neither Grandpa nor Atem seemed to hear him, as neither came into his room. _"What's happening…?" _The pain spread through his fingertips, through his hand, and as the pain made it's way through his arm and hit his torso, it went straight for his heart, like a shot arrow.

Yugi passed out.

Yugi looked around at his suddenly changed surroundings. He saw that he was in some kind of meadow, a peaceful one. The sun was shining brightly above his head and birds were cuddling in a nearby nest. Trees and flowers surrounded him to make a perfect circle and the grass was ankle high but completely dry and a nice rich color.

"What is this place…?" Yugi gaped at the perfection of his surroundings when suddenly, an invisible force seemed to gather in the meadow, opposite of Yugi.

"Are you who summoned me?" it spoke with a deep, rumbling voice that echoed through the entire meadow and shook the trees but Yugi sensed that the force was holding back most of its power.

"Wha-?" Yugi stammered.

"_Are you my master_?" the force demanded.

"I don't kn-"

"No…you are not my master. You did not summon me but…I feel an attachment to you….a connection…"

"What are you?" Yugi managed to gasp, still trembling in the entity's power.

"Even if I told you, you would not be able to comprehend, child. Still young by human standards, lower than an infant by mine."

"What is this place then? Why am I here? How do you know me? What do you mean-"

"Enough! I do not know the answers to those questions either, little one. I suggest, though, that you exit this area immediately. I do not know how long you can stand my energy without being consumed by it."

Yugi shook his head, trying to understand what was going on when suddenly, the invisible force cried out.

"AGHH!"

"What's wrong?" cried Yugi.

Suddenly, the air's energy shifted and the power lurking within it intensified and concentrated by a hundred fold.

Yugi screamed, the energy slowly seeming to pick at his skin from all sides.

"_ARRRRRRRRRGHH! WHO ARE YOU?" _The force seemed to shout, but not at Yugi.

There was a sudden chuckling, but even louder and more resonant than the invisible force's.

The trees nearby ripped out of the ground and started swirling in the direction the air was going. The birds' nests flew out of a tree and ripped into two on the ground, all the birds' necks snapped in a bloody mess. The wind, not satiated with the already there chaos, tore through the grass, shredding the slightly lengthy blades and making a disheveled, muddy field.

"_**!**_"

"_**WAKE UP!**_" someone screamed.

"Someone—wha-whoza-huh?" Yugi snorted.

"Yugi!" Atem sighed.

"Huh?" Yugi said, bewildered by the again, abrupt change of scenery.

"You were yelling and I came to check on you. I've been trying to wake up for," Atem checked his watch, "about 5 minutes now."

"Oh…sorry…I guess I was just really tired…" Yugi murmured.

"Yeah…well anyways….come downstairs for some breakfast after you get ready…" Atem said, getting up but still staring at Yugi like he was crazy. "See you downstairs,"

"Yeah see you," Yugi said, trying to add a cheerful tone.

Atem went downstairs, still looking slightly over his shoulder at Yugi as he walked out .

Yugi sighed, wondering what his dream had been about when suddenly, he saw a single, detached emerald eye wink at him, floating right outside his window.


	3. A Change?

_I'm back everyone! If you don't know what that means, it's me, YamiHeart, writing chapter three._

_So...how's everyone doing? I was quite shocked at the first couple comments we got asking if there was Yaoi in this Fanfic, but luckily it's all cleared up now and if you're reading this you're (hopefully) not looking for Yaoi._

_Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and neither does cyclonzgirl._

_Please enjoy Chapter 3.^^ _

"You won't get away this time!" Yugi ran towards the window and thrust it open to try and grab the eye, but the eye was just as slick as its owner and Yugi grabbed at thin air.

"*SIGH* I wish someone would just explain what was going on…*GASP*" Yugi looked down to his hand and noticed the ring was still on his finger, but he could have sworn it had changed. The once completely black stone now shone hints of a deep crimson and the thorns looked as though they were growing around his hand. Yugi tried to take the ring off, but it wouldn't budge.

"What…?" Confused, Yugi pulled harder and harder on the ring, but he was closer to removing his own finger than the ring.

"_That won't work…why can't you just accept the ring? What's so bad about it?" _Allie's voice echoed through Yugi's head the same way Atem's voice used to when he and Yugi had lived in the same body.

"What's going on? Why can't I take it off?" Yugi asked loudly.

"Yugi!" Atem called up to Yugi from downstairs. "Hurry up! I woke you up for a reason, you know! You have to go to school!"

"_*SIGH* Mortals…never understanding anything…" _Allie was obviously aggravated by Yugi's constant questions. _"Look, why would you want to take it off anyway? Don't you remember what I told you would happen if you didn't wear it in the first place? The concept still applies if you take it off."_

"But…but why did the stone change color? And why did the thorns move?" Yugi started getting ready for school, but he wasn't going to let the subject go, not when the lady with all the answers was in his head.

"_What are you talking about? The ring didn't change. It was always like that; you just hadn't noticed until now." _Yugi looked at the ring again. Was it possible he had just not noticed yesterday?

"Wait…when I put the ring on yesterday I passed out and had a weird dream."

"_What does that have to do with the ring? Dreams are created by one's subconscious, nothing more."_

"But…" Yugi was still skeptical. The ring still gave him a bad feeling, but he did remember what Allie had said would happen if he didn't wear the ring. The two choices bounced around in Yugi's brain. Take a chance with someone's life and take the ring off or keep the ring on even though it gave him a bad feeling. Allie noticed his hesitation in a decision and got fed up with trying to reason with the boy.

"_Fine. Some people have to learn the hard way to listen...take off the ring."_

Yugi had gone out of his room and was walking down the stair case and, though he didn't think the once stubborn ring would magically come off, he grabbed the ring and pulled. _POP_. The ring came right off. Yugi stood shocked.

"Huh…I didn't actually think that would wo-"

"!" Atem's scream cut off Yugi's sentence.

"Wha…Atem!" Yugi bounded down the rest of the stairs to the Game Shop portion of the building where Atem had been getting the store ready. There, Yugi saw Atem against the wall clutching his heart in obvious pain.

"_I warned you that someone close to you's life would be on the line if you didn't wear the ring, and who could be closer than the one person you shared a body with for several years?" _Allie materialized like a ghost next to Yugi with her arms crossed in an I-told-you-so manner. Yugi was too worried about Atem to notice.

"Make it stop!" Yugi cried out. It was obvious Atem's condition was getting worse with each passing second, almost as if something was taking his soul bit by bit.

"_I can't do anything. The only way to stop it is to put the ring back on." _The words practically hissed out of Allie's mouth.

Without even a second thought, Yugi put the ring back on his finger.

"_Excellent…"_ Just as quickly as Allie had materialized, she disappeared from Yugi's consciousness.

Yugi ran up to the now panting Atem. Other than a rapid heartbeat, nothing seemed to be wrong with the former king of Egypt, but Yugi wanted to be sure.

"Are you alright Atem?" Yugi asked nervously.

"I-I'm fine…but I don't know what happened. One second I was fine, and the next second it felt as though my heart was being ripped from my body." Yugi couldn't stop himself from hugging Atem.

"_This never would have happened if I had just listened to Allie and left the ring on. I'm never __**ever**__ taking that ring off again." _Yugi thought to himself while he tried to hold back tears of joy that Atem was alright.

"Um…Yugi? Are **you** ok?" Atem was a little confused over why Yugi was so emotional over one little thing, and became worried that he had actually scared the little boy.

"I'm fine." Yugi looked up to Atem with a big smile. "I just got really worried for a second."

"What's with all the commotion?" Grandpa Mutou walked in; oblivious to everything that had just happened. "Yugi? You're still here? You have to get to school!"

"Oh yeah! Bye Atem!" Yugi ran out of the Game Shop and dashed to school as quickly as possible. Grandpa Mutou gave Atem a questioning look.

"Did…I miss something?" Grandpa asked.

"…Nothing important. Come on; let's get the shop ready for the day."

Yugi dashed around the block so he wouldn't be late for school. The earlier events of the day still lingered in his thoughts, but now getting to school on time was more important.

"HEY YUG!" Jonouchi called from down the street. He was also trying to get to school on time because he was late for school, as always.

"I thought you usually got to school earlier." Jonouchi said when he caught up with Yugi.

"Yeah…well…I slept in a bit today." Yugi said, trying to sum up what had happened without freaking out his friend.

"Really? I'm so proud of you!" Jonouchi ruffled Yugi's hair and ran out in front of him.

"Hey! Wait up!" Yugi tried to run faster, but one of the many disadvantages to having short legs was that your top running speed wasn't very fast.

"_This is pathetic…I can run faster than this." _Said a voice. It wasn't Allie's, but it was strangely familiar. As if Yugi had heard it in a dream of some sort…

Before Yugi could think about the subject anymore, the ring began to glow. Slowly, Yugi realized he was running faster and faster until he had passed Jonouchi and got to school (which was still a good half mile away) in under a second. Yugi skidded to a stop and looked at his hands.

"How…how did I do that?" Yugi asked in astonishment.

"_What did I tell you?"_ This time it was Allie's voice again. Yugi began to wonder how she kept communicating to him like this, but dismissed the thought while Allie continued to talk. _"The ring will make you all you want to be and more."_

The idea still made Yugi shiver. He was quite content being Yugi, but…that little burst of speed **was** convenient…

"Yugi!" Jonouchi was panting heavily, due to him trying to be as fast as his little friend. "How…how did you do that?"

"Um…" Yugi looked around nervously. How was he going to get out of this one? Suddenly, the familiar voice from before popped into his head again and began to speak for him. "What does it matter? Let's go."

The comment was completely unYugi-like, but whoever was in control swiftly turned around before Jonouchi could say anything.

"_How strange… maybe Yugi sleeping in is a bad thing…"_ Jonouchi thought. _"Oh well, nothing to be bothered about."_ Jonouchi ran up to his now very far ahead friend and thought nothing else of what Yugi had said.

_Bum, bum, BUM! What does this sudden change in Yugi mean? I don't know, and cyclonzgirl will either figure it out or give me a whole chapter to think about it.^^ Writing with someone is SO conveinent!_

_Um...please comment. I check the story to see what people say, too. So, if you wanted to say something you could tell me on the comments or message me. _

_HOPE YOU ALL COME BACK WITH ME TO SEE CHAPTER 4, WRITTEN BY CYCLONZGIRL!_


	4. The Meeting

_Hey wassup my bros and sistas! XD Well anyways, if you've made it this far to Chapter 4, I want to thank you guys for reading me and YamiHeart's work. Even if you're not reviewing (which, most of you aren't xD) it's pretty cool that you find the story interesting enough to read like 20 Microsoft Word pages of it haha._

_Yugi: Awww look at that! Cyclonzgirl's getting all sentimental! *Sneering*_

_cyclonzgirl: What the…? Yugi! Why are you here?_

_Yugi: I was bored. But turns out being here talking to you is boring me even more!_

_cyclonzgirl: Hey! Why are you so mean all of a sudden? You're supposed to be nice!_

_Yugi: Well I guess things are changing, aren't they?_

_cyclonzgirl: …_

_Yugi: cyclonzgirl DOES NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! and she never will! HAHAHAHAHAHA…loser. HA. _

_cyclonzgirl: (must…not…punch…main character)_

**Joey's POV**

It's been a week since he first saw Yugi with that…ring…_if _you could call it that. It seemed harmless at first, just changing Yugi in ways that everyone, including Yugi was for the better. Yugi was acing everything in P.E. which he's always failed at. He's acing all his classes and has plenty of time to work at the Kame Game Shop even after he finishes his homework, and he could defend himself from the bullies that always seemed to target him even without Joey's help. It was…strange…but good. In a way. But now, things seemed to be getting out of hand. Yugi sneaked off at the middle of the night to do things that no one can catch him at. He shirks his responsibilities at the Game Shop and refuses to do any school work, which includes lazing around the benches during P.E. unless he has a chance to pummel someone with a dodge ball which he all of a sudden seems unable to refuse to. Joey was worried and so was Tea, Tristan, Atem, Grandpa, and Seto (well…he doesn't act like it but we all know he is).

_**~End POV~**_

"Hey Yugi! Wait up!" Joey tried, knowing that Yugi would just race far ahead of him like he did every day for the past week.

"See ya later, loser!" Yugi sneered, sticking his finger out back at Joey as he stayed far ahead.

"Oh…you…son of a …" Joey started muttering, then, his instincts getting the better of him, he took off at top speed towards Yugi.

Joey's anger and fear for his friend resounded in every single of his steps as he slowly started catching up to Yugi. Then, just as Joey was one step away from punching him, he heard something that made him falter and trip, his jaw hanging the whole time.

"_Come on Yugi…you can do better than that hahahah! Faster my pet, faster! Are you going to let some dumb __**blonde **__beat you? __**Are you?**__" _a female voice hissing, making a slightly iridescent presence around Yugi that Joey hadn't noticed before.

"No…I do not lose…I…I…" Yugi seemed to stutter and his jaw grew a little more relaxed from the rigid pose it was in a few seconds ago.

"Yugi…?" Joey whispered.

"Joey…help…it's not…I'm not…she's….the r-…AH!" Yugi cried out.

"Yugi? Are you okay!" Joey shouted.

"Joey…if I needed help, it certainly wouldn't be from you!" Yugi laughed, which started to sound like barks.

"Yugi?" Joey whispered again.

"Hey Joey! Aren't ya gonna be late for class?" Yugi taunted, his voice seeming to have an effect added, as if two voices were speaking at once.

"What…?" Joey checked his watch. "Oh shit!" Joey yelled, running as fast as he could while recovering from his sprint when chasing Yugi.

Yugi blew past Joey again, laughing his new bark-like laugh.

Joey arrived about 2 minutes after the bell rang, and with his strict 1st period teacher, he got a 40 minute detention after school.

Joey craned in his seat to glare at Yugi who now relocated to the very back, left corner of the room but instead of the haughty, stiff Yugi that he usually saw these days, he saw a ghost white, trembling and sweaty Yugi, looking desperately over at Joey, Tristen, and Tea.

"_Help!_" Yugi mouthed. Or at least Joey thought he did.

But suddenly, Yugi's body sat straighter, his eyes grew darker and more brooding, and he looked straight in front of him, instead of towards Joey.

"_Yugi…" _Joey thought sadly. _"What happened to you?"_

"Sit down guys…make yourselves comfortable," Atem insisted, tossing a bag of chips to Joey and setting a can of Coke for each of them on the coffee table.

"Blargh!" Joey spat out the mouthful of chips he was eating into a napkin.

"Eww! Joey what'd you have to do that for?" Tea demanded, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Well these chips are the wrong flavor! Atem you know I like sea salt and vinegar, not dill pickle!" Joey said, a half joking tone complimenting the statement.

"Oh gee, next time I'm at the grocery store, I'll make sure to get sea salt and vinegar then, Joey," Atem said with a smirk and an eye roll.

"Guys I think we should get down to business," Tristan said, his serious tone calming everyone down.

Joey decided to schedule a meeting with Tea, Tristan, and Atem to discuss Yugi's weird changes over the past week.

"So what'd you notice 'bout a week ago Atem?" Joey asked.

"Yugi wasn't acting any strangely until about last Tuesday, the first day I saw Yugi with that…ring," Atem shuddered when he said ring.

"Oh yeh…that's the day Yugi first outran me to school, too!" Joey exclaimed.

"That's the day that Yugi started avoiding us and bullying the freshman kids…" Tea chided in.

"So I guess this all started last Tuesday?" Tristan said.

"I guess…." Atem said. "and I think it's because of that ring that Yugi started wearing. It's influencing him somehow, I know it!"

Atem's theory was greeted by murmurs of "yeahs" and "mmhms".

"Well, now that we know how it got started…kinda…how do we fix it?" Tea asked, a sort of steely tone to her usually gentle voice.

"Well I think…" Atem and Joey started making a plan and Tristan and Tea added details and pointed out any flaws. The meeting lasted until the bag of chips ran out and then Tristan said he needs to get back in time for his curfew. Joey left walking home with Tristan because they lived a few houses away from each other but Tea stayed.

"So…Tea…do you have to leave for anything?" Atem said awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"Um…no…not really. Nothing important, anyways," said Tea, who started to look into Atem's eyes.

Atem got up and started straightening some loose games on the shelves.

"So what's your homework for today?" Atem asked, trying to make small talk.

Atem waited for a response for a few minutes but when he didn't get one, he turned around.

"Tea are you oka-"

Tea suddenly appeared in front of Atem's face as he turned around, slamming her arms on the wall on either side of his head. She put her face about an inch away from Atem's nose.

"Atem."

Atem froze, not knowing what was happening.

"I love you."

Atem's eyes widened and he made a confused noise.

"Wha…what?"

"I've loved you since I first met you. Do you love me?" Tea said, oddly calm through the whole last few minutes.

Atem slipped lithely through Tea's arms and stood behind Tea, waiting till she whirled around.

"Tea…I don't love you. I like you as a friend but not as a girlfriend," Atem also maintained a steady and calm voice.

"I see then…alright. I won't hold a grudge. _**Pharaoh**_**.**" Tea said, her voice cracking on the last syllable of Pharaoh.

Tea walked out of the store, the small bell on the store door making the only sound as she walked away.

Yugi ducked behind a corner, eyes wide.

**Yugi's POV**

"Tea likes Atem? Wow…" Yugi thought.

"What does it matter to you? They're just a few foolish humans," Allie said, her comforting tone not matching her malicious words.

"They're my friends! That's why they matter! And besides, I'm just a human too!"

"Hehehehe…not when that rings making you immortal, you're not!" Allie cackled.

"Why don't you just let me go? Why did you pick me?" Yugi demanded, a few tears running down his cheeks.

"What? Would you rather I possess one of your dear, darling friends then?" Allie sneered.

Yugi sighed. "No, I don't want you to do that either…"

"Good. By the way, one of the ring's side effects should be kicking in, in about 1…2…3…"

Yugi screamed.

"Yugi!" Atem called from the floor below.

Yugi screamed again and this time, he fell to his knees and rolled down the stairs, his head landing on Atem's feet.

_There! Finished the chapter! Shout out to Ali Ami Umi for being such an awesome supporter! XD What's happening to Yugi? Oh no! Well, he won't die. Right…? READ THE NEXT CHAPTER TO FIND OUT! _  
_MuahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAH! _  
_Well…cyas and thanks for reading! ~cyclonzgirl_


	5. Challenge

_I'm back! WHOO HOO!_

_Oh, and I noticed that last chapter cyclonzgirl used everyone's american names and I used the Japanese ones, so from now on I'll use the american ones too. Oops. ^^_

_Well, we both don' own Yu-Gi-Oh and I hope you enjoy the next chapter of ERHIT (and I just realized that's what it spells. I wonder if that really means anything...)._

Pov: Atem

I quickly fell to my knees and picked up Yugi into my arms. He was deathly pale and sweat beads dropped from his face. His face was twisted from the pain he was feeling, which I had assumed had been from the fall down the stairs.

"Yugi! Are you alright?" I tried to get a response out of Yugi, but I got nothing. That's when I saw it.

The ring. Well, it wasn't a ring anymore. I watched as it slowly moved, grew, around Yugi's hand and turned into a glove. A single stone now sat on the back of his hand. I had remembered glancing at it once or twice before, but now that I really looked at it; it sent a chill down my spine. About an equal amount of red and black swirled around inside of the gem and as I gazed deeper into it, my heart throbbed in pain just like that Tuesday so long ago.

I closed my eyes and grabbed my heart with my free hand. The pain instantly stopped and I looked back to Yugi's bothered face.

"_Could I be the reason Yugi won't take off this…__**thing**__." _The thought spun around my head. I held Yugi closer to me (remember: NO YAOI!) to try and get him to wake up, but there was still no response.

"I seriously doubt anything you do will wake him up." I quickly stood up and spun around to see a roughly 16-year-old girl with thick black hair and emerald eyes come out of the darkness. Even in all her rags she was still beautiful, but I did not trust her one bit.

"Who are you?" I asked. I tried to hold Yugi away from her presence, but she just laughed.

"As if **that** would help him." She laughed some more. Her laugh was ice cold and made me shiver. "No, I'm afraid there's no hope for the Yugi you once knew."

My heart skipped a beat. What did she mean? Did this woman know what was going on with Yugi?

"Who are you?" I repeated a bit more bitterly. "And what do you mean there's no hope for Yugi."

"For the Yugi you **once** knew, not the Yugi you've been seeing as of late. Tch, mortals. Never listening." She was avoiding the question of who she was, so I decided to move on to Yugi's well being.

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by **that**?"

"Simple. I didn't think I'd have to actually explain to someone who had once possessed the same boy before what was happening to him now, _Atem_." She hissed out my name even though I had never introduced myself and had no intention of ever doing so.

"Are you trying to say he's being possessed?"

"And the prize goes to the ancient Pharaoh!" The woman clapped her hands mockingly and smiled like a snake. "But I must say it took some mighty amount of convincing to get him to go along with it. Even after I threatened his closest friend he wasn't open to the idea of slowly losing himself. I can't imagine why…"

I thought about the feeling I had gotten when I stared into the stone and gasped.

"That day at the game shop…" I realized out loud.

"Correctamundo. You see, the previous night, when he was walking home alone, I had tried to give him the ring but he refused to put it on. Later that night I came into his room and got him to put on the ring. But…the next day he wanted to take it off after you woke him up. I was only doing what he asked…and after he saw what happened to you when he took it off, ho boy, he never wanted to take it off again!" The woman seemed quite pleased with herself and what had happened. I, on the other hand, was enraged.

"So…you used **me** as a reason for Yugi to continue wearing the ring…" I said between clenched teeth. How dare she use me I such a way! And all the silent pain Yugi must have been going through just to keep me safe… I had to hold back guilty tears.

"I did." The woman had no problem admitting. "And you were all it took. No matter what happened after that, Yugi refused to take it off, even though he knew my pet was taking over his body."

"What do you mean by pet?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. If it isn't obvious enough, I use shadow magic, and I'm quite powerful. But I used to have an adversary that was created from the shadows themselves. I named him Kurai and nurtured him until he was a fierce killing machine." The woman suddenly got very solemn as she continued talking.

"But someone with a soul as pure as your little buddy there locked my precious away in a ring and told me I'd never be able to break the spell with dark magic such as my own."

The woman broke out into hysterical laughter and I held Yugi tighter to my chest.

"And it was just my luck when I came to town and found a little pure soul that no one was using! And now that the ring has evolved, it is inevitable that Kurai will come back in that boy's body! And don't think I didn't hear your little **plan**, as if it would help."

I gulped. We had just come up with the plan only a couple minutes before. How could she say with such confidence that it wouldn't work?

"You…you don't know that…" I said much less confidently then I would've liked.

"Oh, but I **do**." The woman dissolved into the air with her voice echoing around me. I looked around to try to find her, and was shocked when she wrapped her arms around my neck and began to whisper into my ear.

"Nothing can beat me know. The only hope you ever had was that little boy there, but he will soon die. And when he leaves, Kunai will be resurrected and bring about the end of all you worthless mortals. Although…I **might** spare **you**. After all, you've lived for a couple thousand years now, haven't you?"

"I'll never allow you're twisted plans to come true." I wrenched my way out of her grip and turned around to see the woman's amused face.

"Fine then. I'll make you a deal. You get Yugi to wake up before the gemstone makes its way to Yugi's heart and turns completely red, I'll spare Yugi's life and take the ring off like all of this never happened. Sound like a deal?" The woman outstretched her hand, but I was still skeptical.

"What happens if I don't?" I asked hesitantly.

"Easy. He dies. Kurai comes back to life in his body. All of mankind dies. And perhaps I keep you alive so you can watch it all unfold before your very eyes." The woman's smile once again turned snake-like.

I looked down to Yugi. From the corners of his eyes trickled down a few blood tears. I knew very well that couldn't be a good thing and looked back up to the woman's outstretched hand.

_"Fine." I said unwillingly. I took the woman's hand and shook it firmly. "But Yugi will wake up, and your little monster will never return to you."_

"Still full of confidence. I like that. I know I will enjoy watching it be crushed with every death I will cause after Yugi's. I give you about one more week before the thorns progress far enough to move the stone over Yugi's heart and kill him." Once again, the woman began to disappear into the air.

"Oh, and by the way, my name is Allie." Those were Allie's last words before she completely disappeared from in front of me.

I looked down to Yugi again. All this time he tried to fight a silent battle he was obviously losing and he refused to take the ring off because of what might happen to me.

"Oh Yugi… I promise, I'll save you."

_Bun nuh! All you readers are probably like "oh no! WTF?" Well, ha ha! Now you have to wait again for the next chapter! Oh, I'm so evil.^^_

_PLEASE COMMENT! I love reading them, cyclonzgirl probably loves reading them, and it'll take two seconds. So please, COMMENT!_

_See you all next time for cyclonzgirl's chapter!_


	6. Interference and Honor

_Cyclonzgirl: I'm back! Hi everyone! I was gonna just laze around all day but then I decided to something actually productive!_

_Yami: Ohhh great. -_-_

_Cyclonzgirl: Hey, if I wasn't writing, you wouldn't even be here!_

_Yami: Better not to be here than to be here and…I don't know, get killed off or something. _

_Cyclonzgirl: Well…well…fine just say the disclaimer and I won't do anything bad to you._

_Yami: Really?. …._

_Cyclonzgirl: Really._

_Yami: Alright then! CYCLONZGIRL DOES NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!_

_Cyclonzgirl: HA! SYKE! Loser! _

"YOU DID WHAT?" Joey yelled.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HE DID! HE MADE A DEAL WITH A PSYCHOTIC MANIAC, THAT'S WHAT HE DID!" Tristan exclaimed angrily.

"Guys…calm down…" Tea said imploringly.

"I KNOW! ATEM HOW COULD YOU? NOW YUGI'S GONNA DIE FOR REALS!" Joey shouted even more hysterically.

"Just…just quiet down…"

"GRRRR ATEM YOU KNUCKLEHEAD! ARE YOU _TRYING _TO KILL YUGI OR SOMETHING?" Tristan shouted, his voice growing hoarse.

"GUYS SHUT UP _**NOW**_!" Tea screamed.

Yami (who was hunched down while Joey and Tristan were shouting), Joey, and Tristan whirled around to gape at Tea.

"Can you not be quiet for _one second_!" Tea ranted on, "Yugi is currently dying, Yami is depressed, and you idiots are not making it better at all with you fucking negative talk!" Tea collapsed in a nearby chair and promptly started gasping.

"Tea…" Joey said quietly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah if you're not feeling alright we can drive you home," Tristan said, trying to add a soothing tone to his voice.

Tea mistook the effort to sooth and a patronizing tone and that riled her up even more.

"_Shut up_," she snarled nastily, "if I needed help, it would certainly not be from you two IDIO—"

"_**Tea**_!" exclaimed Atem, trying to control his emotions but a little anger slipping into his already tension filled tone, "I understand how upset you are about Yugi but barking at each other won't help, alright?"

"Alright fine…I see how it is." Tea's shoulders started shaking, her eyes covered in her bangs' shadows, "You guys are all ganging up on me. You think I'm helpless? You think I'll be easy to pick on? _Think again_. If you guys _think _you can treat me like that, I think I'll just leave. Me being here won't help anything." And with that, Tea quickly stood up, grabbed her bag off the Game Shop's counter where they were having their meeting, and walked out the door with the grace only a dancer could muster in such a situation.

"She's…gone off the edge," Joey said, awed.

"Completely off of it," Tristan agreed.

"Guys…don't be too harsh on her. She's just really upset over Yugi. You know how protective she is over him," Atem said, trying to stick up for Tea like he thought a friend should.

"Sure…still doesn't change the fact that she's acting completely loony right now. I wouldn't be surprised if that so called spirit of the ring was possessing her right now…" Joey grumbled.

"_What did you say, Joey_?" Atem said, eyes widening.

"Uhh…that I wouldn't be surprised that the spirit of the ring was possessing Tea?" Joey said, confused at Atem's sudden change of expression.

"That's it!" Tristan exclaimed, eyes also widening.

"It? What it? What are you talking about? Would someone explain to me what's going on in your mind right now!" Joey snapped.

"Joey….the spir—Allie-didn't say she wouldn't interfere. She could be using her powers to leave the ring's side for some time to possess the people near…" Yami replied, his voice now completely calm.

"Yeah man, and she was just possessing Tea, get it?" Tristan said.

"Ohhhhh! I get it now!" Joey said, a wide grin of understanding filling his face.

"Finally, it took you long enough," A new voice said, condescendingly.

"Ahhhh!" shouted Atem, Tristan, and Joey.

"Hahaha, scared you, did I? Well anyways, so you figured out my little trick. I made the princess a little moody and you guys just kept pushing my plan along after that! You people are _so _naive, being able to be manipulated, just like _that_," Allie said, snapping her fingers on the word 'that' to emphasize.

"You witch…" Yami spat out, "why couldn't you have just honorably followed our deal?"

"Honorably? The deal? My dear child, I don't exactly recall agreeing that I couldn't help my cause win with a few….tricks that I've got up my sleeve."

Atem had no response to this, only glaring at Allie to inform her of his resentment.

"Oh, don't look at me like that! You know it's fair! Did I ever say you couldn't use your shadow abilities to their fullest extent? No I didn't. It's not _my _fault you're too _honorable _(Allie sneered the word) to actually try to win!"

"You bitch!" Joey shouted, lunging for Allie's neck, "Go to hell!"

But when Joey's fist was only centimeters from contact, Allie disappeared.

"Hahaha! You're fighting techniques are such good amusement! Go ahead, take another shot….why don't you see what happens?"

"Grrr….come out of hiding and fight like a man!" Joey shouted, almost reaching hysteria in his frenzied tone.

"If you couldn't tell, I'm not a man, and unlike you fools, I have no squabbles of striking invisibly."

Suddenly, Joey cried out and sank to his knees, the back of his shirt ripped open, showing a red mark (rapidly turning black).

"I'd put some medicine on that if I were you," Allie whispered, her voice seeming to disappear, along with her presence.

Joey growled, and started shouting into the empty air, trying to intimidate what was already gone.

"Joey….we probably should get some medicine on that, man. It's turning black…" Tristan said, his voice thick with concern.

"We have to wake Yugi up. And we have to destroy that…_girl_," Joey muttered savagely, half to himself and half to Atem and Tristan.

"We will, Joey" Atem said, a newfound confidence in his tone. "You can count on it."

Cyclonzgirl: Hey guys, sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. I had a big writer's block and plus, I have SATs coming up.

_Atem: Riiiiiight…so how many minutes have you studied for it so far? _

_Cyclonzgirl: No comment._

Atem: 0_0 Must be really bad.

_Cyclonzgirl: MOVING ON…so please review and subscribe and make SURE to check out Yamiheart's profile! (Well…if you haven't already.) _

_Thanks for reading and _

_CYAS!_


	7. Nice Pet

_Hello again! YamiHeart here! Sorry this took a little while, but I had homework and stuff, so I couldn't get around to it for a while. But here it is and I hope you like it. There might be some mistakes... and I'm sorry if there are. But, we all make mistakes, right?_

_Atem: No._

_Uh huh. WHO MADE A DEAL WITH A CRAZED PSHYCO?_

_Atem: There's no point in saying "crazed" and "psycho" when describing the same thing. They're synonyms of each other._

_I could find a way to kill you, you know._

_Atem: O.O Anyway... YamiHeart and cyclonzgirl don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!_

_That's better. Now please enjoy chapter 7 of ERHIT!_

Pov: Yugi

I looked around me. At first glance, there was only darkness. But then I looked down (or, perhaps at my usual eye level) and saw toys scattered everywhere. They gave me the creeps. They weren't happy toys, no, they were about as cute as Chucky dolls and zombie teddy bears because that's basically what they were. Some of the toys even made me start to understand why people had clown phobias; those things were frigging creepy. The only thing I could ask was "Where am I?"

"How does one not recognize their own soul room?" The voice I had been hearing in my head ever since I put on the ring said. I jumped, not expecting anyone to answer.

"What do you mean? This can't be my soul room." I looked around again. Sure, there were toys in my soul room, but they didn't look like they'd murder someone if I turned my back on them.

Suddenly, the darkness began to bend and twist into the shape of a young boy no older than me with glowing red eyes. His hair was short and black and his clothing consisted of a single black cloak.

"I have materialized myself into a way your mortal mind may be able to comprehend my presence." The young boy said, his voice not matching the body it came out of. "And I assure you this **is** your soul room. Or, what's left of it anyway."

His eyes were painted in sadness and longing as he picked up a doll who had lost her head with his leather-gloved hand that emerged from his cloak.

"Who-who are you? And if this is my soul room, what are you doing in it?" I asked.

The boy put down the doll with a sigh and looked me straight in the eyes. "My name is Kurai, and I am the soul that has been locked inside the ring Allie gave you for thousands of years…so many that I have indeed lost count." I would have been slightly more shocked at what Kurai had told me if it hadn't happened before. So another spirit locked inside some ancient artifact was stuck inside my body, so what? The only thing that unnerved me was that this one didn't have its own soul room; instead it seemed to share mine.

"I am truly sorry for what Allie and I have done to you and your friends. If I could, I'd reverse everything but the world is not so kind." He bowed his head, much like Atem used to do when he didn't want me to see him cry.

I walked over to him and put my hands and his shoulders. He looked at me, confusion written on his face.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" I asked the two questions Allie had never truly answered and Kurai sighed again.

"Perhaps I should start from the beginning. A long time ago Allie was a young maiden who found a very powerful book of shadow magic." His words seemed to paint a picture on the blackness of what was supposedly my soul room. "She taught herself every curse in that book, but she was still not satisfied until she found a summoning spell on the very last page written in an ink only a master shadow magic user could uncover. After meeting all the necessary conditions, Allie summoned me. She claims to all that we were partners, but I was much more like her slave than anything. She whipped me and tortured me until my whole heart was black and unfeeling. In the end, she got just what she wanted, a creature that only wanted to kill."

"But then, a girl whose soul was pure and innocent came to town and stopped by Allie's house every day in secret to meet me. Her name was Zahra, and she slowly brought me out of the darkness and into the light. Eventually, I proposed to Zahra with a ring I had made myself with a red stone and silver thorns with the request that Zahra would lock me away inside of it. I knew I'd never truly be free of Allie's spell, but being out of her reach for the rest of time was good enough. Zahra agreed to both of my offers, though it pained her heart to do so."

"Allie tried to stop Zahra on the day she sealed me away, but it was too late. Enraged, Allie took the ring and tried to get me out of the ring, but found she could not. Allie demanded to know why I wouldn't come out, and Zahra told her it was because she needed to put the ring onto the hand of a pure soul. Knowing what Allie's mind was thinking, Zahra swiftly took out a knife and…k-killed herself." Kurai struggled to get the words out because of the tears he tried to hold back.

"Whe-where do I come into all of this?" Kurai looked at me again and wiped away his tears.

"Ever since that day Allie has been looking for a pure soul to put the ring on, but it became harder and harder to locate one as the world became more and more corrupt. That is, until she found you. I'm sure you remember the rest quite vividly."

Memories flooded back to me of when I first met Allie and all the things that had followed up to the point when I heard Kurai's voice and zoomed past Joey.

"Ah yes, **that** day." Kurai said, as if he could read my thoughts, which I realized he probably could. "Of course, after thousands of years away from any light, my soul became black once more and I'm afraid it tainted you. The only hope of either of us surviving is your ancient friend."

"Atem?" I asked.

"Yes, I do believe that's his name. He just made a deal with Allie that he would get you to wake up before the jewel on the ring moves to your heart and kills you and, which I'm sure Allie is aware of, me as well."

"Wait, but I thought you would be summoned into my body." I stated, now officially confused. When had Atem made that deal? Why was Kurai going to die if I died? Why was I going to die?

"No, the darkness that Allie wants will be summoned into you. It will be a mindless puppet of darkness that Allie will have complete control over. The part of me that is **me** will be lost to the shadows that will consume us both. This will be best for Allie's plans. As for when Atem made that deal, it was a little while ago after you fell down the stairs and fell into a sort of comma."

I staggered backwards, unsure of what to do or say. I tripped on a wooden bloc and fell over into a clump of demented toys. Kurai continued to look at me, face plastered with regret. I tried to form all my worries and concerns into questions, the first one being about Atem.

"You-you said Atem made a deal. Well, what type of deal?" I got up from the heap and tried to regain my composure.

Kurai sighed. "He made a deal that if he could wake you up before the stone reached your heart, Allie would take off the ring and everything would go back to normal as if this never happened."

"And what if he doesn't?" **That **was the part that concerned me.

"You will die. I will die, even though he doesn't know that. Your body and the darkness that consumes it will be Allie's puppet to destroy the human race, and Atem will live to watch every single human get massacred." My legs no longer supported my weight and I fell into the toys again, tears streaming down my face.

"NO! Why would he do that? He can't watch all of that misery! It would…destroy him!" I shouted. It wasn't fair. He shouldn't have gotten involved. Heck, I shouldn't have gotten involved! But we were, and we were both on the verge of being destroyed.

"I'm sorry. But all we can do now is wait and hope for the best." Kurai's voice sounded utterly defeated as he also fell into a pile of toys.

"No." I said plainly.

"What?" Kurai asked.

"No." I stood up, fists at my side. "I will **not** give up and wait for shadows to consume me. I **will** wake up and I **will** make sure none of that stuff ever happens."

Kurai sat there, shocked at my reaction. After a couple seconds he stood up and walked over to me.

He put his arm on my shoulder and said "Yes. Let us fight. You for Atem, and I for Zahra."

I looked up to him and smiled. Then, although Atem and I no longer shared a mind link, I said _"Just you wait Atem. I'll wake up and make everything alright again."_

W_ell, I gave Yugi his own POV, so he should thank me._

_Yugi: THANK YOU? You're basically trying to kill everyone, including me!_

_You said the words "thank you", so I'll take it._

_Yugi: Grrr...If everyone wasn't so busy trying to wake me up..._

_What? What would they do? Even if they killed me, cyclonzgirl could kill them._

_Yugi: DANG IT!_

_Anyway, PLEASE COMMENT! LOVE HEARING FROM YOU! Becasue I DO check this story all the time for new comments.^^_

_Hope to see you all next chapter! GOODBYE!_


	8. Crossing the Chasm

_Cyclonzgirl: AHHHH IT'S BEEN MONTHS! I'M SO SORRY!_

_Atem: I enjoyed my break…while it lasted…_

_Yugi: Oh give her a break, Atem. _

_Cyclonzgirl: Yes, a character likes me now! _

_Yugi: Only, if you and Yamiheart give us a happy ending. _

_Atem: …Maybe. _

_Cyclonzgirl: Wah. I'll do my best. For now, just say the disclaimer. _

_Atem: Never!_

_Yugi: Atem…_

_Yami: Ugh, fine. _

_Yugi/Atem: Cyclonzgirl [and/or Yamiheart] does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! _

Atem started trembling a little as he dialed Tea's cellphone number.

**Ring…**

"_Atem, you need to call Tea."_

Ring…"What's the big deal with calling her, man? Tea. Our FRIEND, remember?"Ring…

"Look, I know she acted all mad before, but we know that she was just being possessed. Can't you get over that?"

**Hi! You've reached Tea Gardner. I'm probably dancing my butt off so I can't get to the phone, so just leave a message at the beep! Bye! **

As Atem waited for the beep to sound, he thought about Joey and Tristan, being perplexed and a little annoyed at how Atem was so reluctant to call Tea.

"You're her best friend, other than Yugi. She needs comforting and you're the guy to do it."

Little did Joey and Tristan know of Yami and Tea's previous encounter.

In the end, though, Atem gave up and decided to call Tea, to appease Joey and Tristan.

**Beep. **

**Hi Tea, it's Atem. Joey, Tristan, and I really wanted to say sorry about how we acted before to you, and we know (very well…) that you're not someone to be picked on. Again, sorry, and if you can, head over to the game shop at 6:00 PM today. Joey, Tristan, and I are meeting again and we really want to see you there too. Well…bye. Hopefully see you later? **

Atem pressed his 'end' button on his phone and heaved a deep sigh.

I wish Tea and I could be normal again.

Atem rested his head on the couch armrest, lifting his legs up from the ground to the couch. Lying down, Atem closed his eyes, trying to relax a little.

Yugi's POV

"So Kurai, what do you think we should do?" Yugi said, sitting cross-legged on the floor, trying to keep an eye on all the scariest looking toys, to make sure they don't tackle him or something.

"Yugi, being a slave to Allie for the longest time, I know how she operates, how she lays the foundations to her plans. But never, have I seen her this powerful. I did not know she could nestle her spirit also in the ring, even if forced to leave me untouched. I did not know she could possess people who make contact with the ring. And I certainly did not know she could've gotten this far in any plan whose goal was to bring me to my knees before Allie again. So in this case, I'm afraid I can't be as much help as I could've been, and for that, I am truly sorry. To you, and to myself."

"Are you saying you can't help in coming up with the plan?" Yugi said, his morale lowered a bit.

"I'm sorry. I do not trust myself."

Yugi closed his eyes, trying to relax. As he tried to gather his remaining energy up, he felt a sudden…fluctuation in the air. One that didn't seem wrong, but just different than before.

I wonder…

Yugi remembered always feeling that exact same fluctuation when he was still one with Atem, and when he was asleep, Atem would finally stop thinking at the desk right next to Yugi's desk, but resign himself to sitting on his throne in his soul room.

But how can I feel it now?

Yugi stood up suddenly, staggering a little as the blood rushed to his head.

"Yugi…?" Kurai asked, concerned as Yugi walked, almost trance-like to the door of his soul room.

"Shhh." Yugi put his finger to his lips and hushed Kurai, thoughts racing in his brain.

Yugi continued walking to the door, smushing demented looking teddy bears under Yugi's now steady feet, not bothering to walk around them. Yugi's hand trembled as he reached for the door handle, feeling like he was in a horror movie, and he was the stupid kid who opened the closet with a monster inside.

Yugi closed his eyes, trying to control his breathing and calm his racing heartbeat.

Whatever's past this door…can't be that bad. You can do it. You know you can. Your and your friends' fates depend on you, Yugi. Just do it.

Yugi's eyes flashed open, and his hand suddenly pulled the door open with a belligerence.

Seeing the contents past the door, Yugi's and Kurai's eyes widened.

About 10 feet away was Atem's door to his soul room, as ominous and heavy looking as always. But in the 10 feet gap, was no floor, just a swirling darkness that looked like what the shadow realm looked like when Bakura or Marik would transport Yugi to during duels.

Yugi gaped, feeling his pulse in his head as he realized he was just a few feet away from contacting Atem through their, apparently, ever present mind-link.

"He's in there," Yugi breathed.

"Yugi…are you sure? This could be a trap set by Allie. My better judgment urges me to tell you to stay away from that door but why do I have the feeling you're not going to be dealt with?" Kurai said, a little dryly.

"Kurai. I know Atem's in there. I feel his presence. And I know what that feels like, being in it for a few years straight."

"Alright then, Yugi. I'll help you cross the pit. I will stay on this side, though. Atem may not take too well to strangers intruding his soul room."

"Good point…" Yugi agreed—not wanting another accident after what almost happened to Shadi. "So how do I get across? Any ideas?"

Kurai furrowed his eyebrows, thinking, and suddenly sat on the cold floor, cross-legged.

"If I focus my own shadow energies, I might be able to levitate you to the other side. It will be slow, and if you make an sudden movements or resist for any reason, I will drop you, since my power are still recovering after being trapped for years. Are you willing to risk it?"

"Yes!" Yugi gasped, eyes wide and desperate.

"Alright then, let's do this."

Kurai closed his eyes, and put his hands on the floor, palms flat.

Yugi watched, fascinated, as the air around Kurai started glowing an iridescent black. As soon as a patch of air turned the black color, it was sucked into Kurai, every inch of Kurai's body absorbing the energy around him. Kurai's face relaxed from its previous focused expression, but one that seemed in a trance.

Suddenly, Yugi started to feel a tingling, around his feet, and looking down, he saw that he was a few centimeters on the ground.

"Gah!" Yugi's legs spasmed, trying to jump but failing due to being in the air.

Kurai sucked in sharply, and Yugi wobbled, the tingling fading away and a wobbly nervousness taking its place.

"Sorry! Forgot!" Yugi squeaked.

Kurai's face smoothed out again, and Yugi started moving towards the pit, a few inches from the ground this time. Yugi felt the tingling get stronger as he got higher. Yugi was sweating uncontrollably, but managed to keep still.

A few minutes later, Yugi was across the chasm, and he felt his feet touch the cold floor again, but on the other side. Yugi turned around, and looked at Kurai.

Kurai smiled. "Go on Yugi, I'll be here."

Yugi smiled back and pushed Atem's soul room door open.

**Wow! It's been so long! I know YamiHeart's still active cause she's been updating her stories like crazy so make sure to go check her profile out :D **

**I swear to update more now, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^^  
**


	9. Caught Cheating?

_****Message from cyclonzgirl**:  
**_

_**SURPRISSSSEEEEEE! I guess YamiHeart decided to surprise us all with another update the NEXT day after I updated so a little treat for all you readers who still support us after the months of waiting. Thanks for reviewing, I (and YamiHeart) love reading your feedback so keep it up and maaaaybe you'll get another update within this week! **_

_**Yami: Oh sweet lord...NOOOOO!  
**_

_**cyclonzgirl: Oh Yami dont be so dramatic...anyways everyone enjoy!**_

_YamiHeart is back!_

_Yugi: HOLY S***! How'd you write a new chapter so quickly?_

_cyclonzgirl left me at a point that I instantly knew what to write._

_Yugi: D***..._

_Stop cussing and do the disclaimer._

_Yugi: YamiHeart and cyclonzgilr don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or do they...?_

_Uh...no. We don't._

_Yugi: :(_

_Please enjoy!^^_

As soon as Yugi opened the door to Atem's soul room, he was greeted with a gust of wind that blew sand all around. Yugi held up his arm so that he didn't go blind from flying bits of sand and waited for the wind to die down before looking inside. Once Yugi did take his arm down, he was shocked to see a giant door with ancient hieroglyphics carved into it only a few feet away.

Yugi closed the door behind him and slowly began to approach the new door when a cloudy mist surrounded him. Yugi coughed and looked up to find a green staff thrust into his face.

"All intruders will be exterminated." A voice said from behind the staff. The rod began to glow and Yugi tried to brace himself from the magical attack when a excited squeal came from Yugi right.

Yugi looked just in time to see a blonde female pounce on the miniature teenager and entwine him in a big hug, causing them both to fall to the ground.

The first voice sighed as the staff was lowered. "Mana, get off the intruder."

Mana obviously wasn't listening as she exclaimed, "Yugi! I haven't seen you in such a long time!"

"Yugi?" A man clad in all purple came forward, embarrassment written on his face. "Heh…what do you know…?"

Mana looked up at the man and stuck out her tongue. "See what happens when you shoot before asking questions? You could have killed the only chance Atem has to not witness the end of all mankind, Master!"

"I am dreadfully sorry, Mr. Mutou." Mahad approached Yugi, and Mana floated off the young boy so that her master could help Yugi up. Mahad outstretched his hand and Yugi gratefully took it. "We've all been on edge protecting Atem's soul room lately."

"Speak for yourself." Mana said as she hovered on her blue, pink, and yellow staff.

"It's fine." Yugi said with a smile as he brushed himself off. "But I must say I wasn't expecting to see the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl when I came in."

"Yes, how _did_ you get in? If I do recall correctly, you and Atem have been separated for quite some time now."

"Uh…well…" Yugi looked back at the door as he tried to figure out how to explain how he ended up in his old partner's soul room.

"Oh come now master! Don't bombard him with questions! We have to bring him to see Atem right away! You know how worried he is!" Mana grabbed Yugi arm and dragged him towards the big door.

"Atem's soul room sure has changed…" Yugi stated.

"This isn't even the best part! Just wait 'till we get to the other side of the door! You'll be amazed at how organized it is!"

Mahad followed his over-eager apprentice, shaking his head in the same way parents do when their children don't wait for them before going into a toy shop.

"Mana…do you remember how to _open_ the door?"

Mana paused and brought her finger up to her face in thought. "Oh yeah! Yugi, stay here for a second."

Mana let go of Yugi's arm and skipped the rest of the way to the door. Mana stood in front of it, holding her staff in front of her, and commanded something in a language Yugi didn't understand. Mana's staff began to glow, and soon the hieroglyphs did too. The door slowly opened, but Mahad stopped Yugi and Mana from rushing in.

"Let me tell Atem he has a visitor first." Mahad said with a wink and a smile. Yugi nodded in agreement and Mahad went through the door.

_Meanwhile…_

Atem wandered down the one hall that led away from his throne room and sighed. It had been a long time since he had come in here, but maybe he just needed a break so he could think things through.

Atem thought about when he used to share a body with Yugi and how much his soul room had changed since then. Instead of a dizzying amount of doors and hallways, there was only one hallway with a couple labeled doors. The main room, his throne room, was at the end of the hall opposite form the door to enter his soul room from the outside. All the walls were made of the same brick they had been made of when he was in the Millennium Puzzle, but other than that not much else was the same.

Atem soon found himself stopping in front of the door he hated the most: the door that he sealed all his shadow magic and dark thoughts into. The door was pitch-black, reflecting the dark contents that lay behind it. On the front of the door was a picture of Atem and Yugi smiling without a care in the world. Atem had put that picture there to remind himself why he never wanted to open the door and release the shady magic and thoughts.

Atem took the picture down and held it tightly in his hands; afraid that if he dropped it he would lose the happy memory, just like he was losing Yugi at that very moment.

Atem shook his head. No, he was going to save Yugi. He had to.

"Pharaoh." Mahad said, snapping Atem out of his thoughts.

Atem hung the picture back up and turned to one of his most loyal servants. "You can just call me Atem, Mahad. Now, what is it?"

"You have a visitor."

Atem was confused. "A visitor?"

Mahad nodded. "Yes. May I bring him in?"

"Um…sure, I guess." _"If Mahad trusts them enough to let them through I don't see why not."_

Mahad turned back to the now open door to Atem's soul room and shouted, "Alright Mana! Let him in!"

Mahad stood aside as a little boy with tri-colored, pointy hair stepped into the doorway, his face smiling and amethyst eyes shining.

"Yugi!" Atem exclaimed in joy.

"Atem!"

Both boys ran towards each other and met in the middle of the hallway. Tears of joy slipped from both of their eyes as they embraced in a big, brotherly hug. It warmed Mana and Mahad's hearts to see their king so happy at the arrival of the young boy and the two magicians watched from the side as the happy tears turned to sad.

"Why didn't you tell me, Yugi?" Atem whispered.

"I…I didn't want you to get hurt again, and by the time I realized I needed I help I didn't have control of my body anymore. But what about you? Why did you make that deal with Allie?"

"If I didn't there would have been no chance to save you." There was a brief silence before Atem asked, "How did you get here anyway Yugi?"

"That's what I asked." Mahad mumbled, causing Mana to elbow him in the side.

"I felt your presence from my soul room-"

"Wait! You were in your soul room?"

Yugi nodded. "But it's not normal. Remember all those toys and games I had on the floor?"

"Yes."

"Now they're all creepy and demented. The whole place is dark."

Atem shivered. He couldn't imagine the once happy room looking like it belonged in a horror film. It was a sign that Yugi was quickly slipping away from him. Atem tightened his grip around Yugi, not wanting to lose him to Allie's evil plan.

"Anyway, when I felt your presence I opened the door to my soul room and saw your door only a couple feet away, except there was a deep crevice between your soul and mine."

"Then how'd you get across?"

Yugi sighed. "Kurai helped me."

"Kurai? Who's Kurai?" Atem was worried again.

"He's the presence locked away inside the ring Allie gave me. If I die, he'll die too, leaving only his shadow powers left for Allie to control!"

"My, my. Mortals sure do love to share other's secrets, don't they?" A chillingly familiar voice said from the still open door.

"Allie!" Atem barked as he quickly moved Yugi behind him. "What are you doing here?"

Allie emerged from the shadows of the door with cruel smile on her face. Mahad and Mana swiftly came between Atem and the intruder, their staffs glowing and ready to strike.

"Oh please. You think a young magician and her out-dated teacher can stop me? Think again!" A black vine with thorns formed in Allie's hand and she whipped it at Mana and Mahad.

The vine-whip wrapped itself around the two magicians like a python and flung them against the brick wall. The vine stayed around their unconscious forms as Allie slowly approached Atem and Yugi like a cat sizing up its prey.

"Mahad! Mana!" Atem shouted. No response. Atem looked back at Allie, his glare cold enough to freeze hell over. "What. Do. You. Want?"

Allie didn't respond as she pushed Atem out of the way and picked up Yugi by the collar of his shirt with her free hand. Yugi tried to wriggle free, but found himself starting to feel weaker. With the hand Allie held the rope in she made a "Tsk, tsk" gesture close to Yugi's face.

"This is cheating, Mr. Mutou." Allie said grimly. "Cheating isn't allowed."

"Like using Tea isn't cheating!" Atem shouted as he struggled to get up from the ground.

Allie coldly scowled at Atem as one of the thorns on her vine extended and gashed Atem on the leg. Yugi tried to cry out to Atem as Atem fell to his knee and held his bleeding leg, but Yugi couldn't find his voice.

"It is very annoying to have to constantly repeat myself. Using Tea is _not_ cheating; Yugi finding you _is_. If you want him to die right now, go ahead, keep questioning me and what is and isn't cheating."

Yugi's breathing became more and more forced and his eyes started to flutter shut. Atem saw this and knew Allie wasn't kidding. Allie smiled when she received no protest from the ancient pharaoh.

"Good. Come along little Yugi." Allie dropped the vine and carried Yugi out of Atem's soul room. Atem forced himself up, ignoring the searing pain in his leg, and limped after the crazed woman.

Allie opened the outer door to Atem's soul room and walked across the shadows as if they were a solid path between the mortal's doors. Kurai stood up in shock as Allie neared his temporary residence and threw Yugi in. Kurai caught Yugi just as Allie slammed the door shut a created a web of iron vines over it. She quickly jiggled the handle to Yugi's soul room to check if the vines were secure before turning back to Atem, who stood in the outer doorway in shock.

"I'm willing to look past this little mishap, pharaoh. But that doesn't mean it's not going to cost you." Allie said slyly as she headed back over to Atem.

"What…cost?" Atem was having a hard time talking on account of his leg, but he tried his best to hide all other signs of his pain.

"Time."

"Huh?"

"I'm cutting your time. You now only have two days to save Yugi before he and Kurai go bye bye."

"What? That's not fair!" Atem argued.

"Oh, but it is." And before Atem could say anything else, Allie slammed his outer door shut, too.

_I am just EVIL lately! XD_

_Atem: This is so unfair! _

_No it's not..._

_Atem: How? How is this fair in any way?_

_Because I said so._

_Atem: Grrrr..._

_PLEASE COMMENT! I like it, cyclonzgirl likes it, and it might make us upadte really REALLY fast alot more._

_Bye! See you all next chapter for cyclonzgirl's chapter 10! _


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